Long Beach State pitcher Nick Sabo throws to home plate against College of Charleston on Monday.

Long Beach State right fielder Richard Prigatano catches a fly ball hit to the warning track by College of Charleston's Ryan Welke during the fifth inning.

College of Charleston shortstop Champ Rowland (24) throws to first base to complete a double play on Long Beach State's Colton Vaughn after forcing out Eric Hutting (3) at second base in the seventh inning of an NCAA college baseball regional tournament game in Gainesville, Fla., Monday. College of Charleston won, 4-2.

Long Beach State's Garrett Hampson, right, reacts after striking out as College of Charleston catcher Ryan Welke (14) throws the ball to the third baseman during the eighth inning of an NCAA college baseball regional tournament game in Gainesville, Fla., Monday.

Long Beach State's Ino Patron, right, slides safely back to first base.

Long Beach State starting pitcher Nick Sabo, left, throws out College of Charleston's Brandon Glazer at first base after fielding his grounder as third baseman Michael Hill watches during the second inning.

Long Beach State shortstop Garrett Hampson throws out College of Charleston's Nick Pappas at first base.

With respect to the way the season ended, there was some regret in the Long Beach State locker room Monday afternoon.

The Dirtbags flourished down the stretch of a memorable season by doing all of the little things that went into the team’s streak – starting pitching that went deep into games, sound defense, limiting opportunities on one hand and taking advantage of them on the other.

Those things were missing Monday when they were eliminated in the title round of the Gainesville Regional by the College of Charleston, 4-2, at the University of Florida’s McKethan Stadium.

Sunday starter Nick Sabo was unable to get out of the fourth inning, one Charleston run scored on a wild pitch and another on a error. The offense stalled after a quick start, getting four hits on the day and only two after the first inning.

The loss came a few hours after the Dirtbags concluded the game that began Sunday afternoon before being suspended by rain, taking a rousing 12-5 win that eliminated Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina and put them in the title sequence.

“I told the team that there are two … perspectives,” coach Troy Buckley said. “One is the side that looks at how we played, and it’s disappointing, there’s no question. We missed free opportunities and did things out of character from the way we’ve been doing them.

“But on the other side I’m extremely proud, and they have no reason to hang their heads. It’s been a long grind for us to get back to the postseason. This team has a lot of heart and great leadership with Ino Patron and Garrett Hampson. It’s disappointing, but at the same time I’m really happy for what the guys accomplished.”

Long Beach led North Carolina, 6-5, when the game was suspended Sunday evening, and a five-run ninth when it resumed put the game away.

An hour and an inning later, they led the Cougars, 2-1.

Charleston used a walk, Sabo wild pitch and single by Carl Wise to take a 1-0 lead in the first. But in the bottom of the first, Richard Prigatano doubled home a run and a bunt single by Johnny Bekakis scored another and the Dirtbags led 2-1. Charleston’s Blake Butler doubled in the third. He was at third with two outs when third baseman Michael Hill threw wildly on Wise’s ground ball, Butler scoring to tie the game.

In the fourth, Sabo walked a batter, hit another and threw a wild pitch to put the runners in scoring position and end his day prematurely. Nick Rossetta relieved, and Charleston scored twice on a sacrifice fly and wild pitch to make it 4-2.

Cougars starter Tyler Thornton didn’t need anything else. After the two hits in the first, he allowed just two more the rest of the game. Long Beach got a runner to second in the fifth and sixth with two outs but couldn’t convert. Eric Hutting led off the sixth with a single but was erased by a double play.

“He was using both pitches for strikes, getting ahead, and everybody knows when you get that first strike your batting average goes down a lot because you’re behind in the count,” Dirtbag senior first baseman Patron said. “He was really effective in that way. It was like we were in defense mode the whole time, just battling and fighting … we were on the tail end of it today.”

The regional was the first for the program since 2008, and the team earned it by winning 14 of their past 17 games, winning their past six series and finishing second in the Big West. They eliminated a North Carolina team that a year ago won 59 games, lasted two games longer than the host and SEC regular season champ Florida, and dropped a pair of games to a Charleston team that was a No. 4 seed in name only.

The Cougars actually had more wins (41) coming into the regional than the other three teams, and their pre-regional 53 RPI was drastically out of kilter with most of the other 15 No. 4 seeds in the tournament. The next highest RPI for a No. 4 was 67, and 13 of the No. 4s had RPIs ranging from 91 to 271.

“I’ll be honest with you, I think this tournament was kind of set up for us,” Charleston coach Monte Lee said, “based on what we did in the Colonial (Athletic Association) tournament. We played extremely well, and I think our guys felt that momentum and confidence going into this regional.

“The big thing in tournament play is winning the first game. Once we won the first game, we felt like we had the momentum going. I think the team understands what their identity is: to score first and score early in the ballgame. Our pitching and defense will keep the lead for us, and that’s what we’ve done all year. Our guys did exactly that over the course of three days.”

Long Beach State did that for most of the season and for four days in Florida, but not long enough to extend the regional and earn a Super Regional bid.

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